US-Russian Summit Kicks off in Slovenia

US-Russian Summit Kicks off in Slovenia

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US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin kicked off their debut summit meeting in Ljubljana on June 16 in an effort to stabilize relations between their two countries.

The meeting, which is expected to take about two hours, is held at Brdo Castle, about 25 kilometers north of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. The summit is also attended by the U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Bush and Putin reportedly first met for half an hour accompanied only by one national security aide and an interpreter and then continued with an expanded meeting after a photo session in the courtyard of the castle.

The two leaders are due to give a joint press conference which is to last from 5:30 to 6 p.m. local time (GMT 11:30-12:00).

The summit takes place at a time when relations between the two countries have cooled somewhat in the first few months after Bush assumed the US presidency in January.

Apart from bilateral relations, the two leaders are expected to discuss a number of thorny issues, including the US plan to deploy missile defense shield, NATO enlargement, nuclear nonproliferation, and conflicts in regions like the Balkans and the Middle East.

Bush arrived here from Warsaw, Poland. Slovenia is also the last leg of his current five-nation European tour which has also taken him to Spain, Belgium and Sweden. He will return to Washington later Saturday.

Putin arrived shortly afterwards from Moscow. He will continue his trip with a visit to Yugoslavia after the summit.